Urban Carousel: Merry-Go-Round Made of Shopping Cars

Subverting the shopping cart, this urban installation is a play on consumer culture and its cyclical nature. Of course, it is also a lot of fun to play with, too.

Set in a public plaza of Ponta Delgada, Açores, Portugal, the piece aims to subconsciously attract people to playfully interact in the unlikely desert of a cobblestone square, all around a lone lamppost no less. Modular and assembled on-site, the installation could conceivably be deployed just about anywhere.

“By counteracting the freedom of movement that normally characterizes these carts (ironically moving in circles) we are reminded that consumerism does not take us anywhere… or [at best back to our] starting point.” says Nuno Pimenta.

Whether or not the message is clear to the passerby, the function, at least, is self-explanatory. People readily realize they can push the carts, ride in them and go around in a circle just like a miniature park carousel or its classic carnival-ride equivalent.